Travel through time

Sunday

Aug 31, 2008 at 12:01 AM

By CAROLINE DOHACK of the Tribune's staff

If you're a Missouri native, you probably learned about the state's famous men and women in fourth grade. But did you ever get around to visiting them? Many of their homes are still standing, providing glimpses into their everyday lives.

? Long before the first European explorers came to Missouri, American Indians sought shelter at Graham Cave in Montgomery City. In 1949, an excavation revealed tools and debris dating to about 8,000 BC. These remains are evidence of what people ate, how they hunted and what their religious ceremonies might have been like. The cave is open to visitors. For more information, visit www.mostateparks.com/grahamcave.htm.

? The Mark Twain Boyhood Home and Museum properties include eight buildings, including Mark Twain's boyhood home, the Becky Thatcher House, an interpretive center and a museum. Much of "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" was based on Twain's experiences growing up in Hannibal, and descriptions of Aunt Polly's house match those of his boyhood home. In fact, renovators used these descriptions when remodeling the house. For more information, visit www.marktwainmuseum.org.

? Jesse James, the infamous outlaw, died in St. Joseph as he was straightening a picture frame. One of his gang members, Robert Ford, shot him in the back of the head to collect a $10,000 bounty. James had moved to St. Joseph with his wife and two children to hide from authorities, living under the alias Tom Howard.

Today, the house serves as a Jesse James museum. On display are the coffin handles from James' grave, a bullet removed from his right lung area, the tie pin he was wearing the day he was shot and a casting of his skull, showing the fatal bullet wound. Fore more information, visit www.stjoseph.net/ponyexpress/jesse.

? George Washington Carver was an agricultural scientist credited with reviving the Southern economy by persuading farmers to plant peanuts and soybeans instead of cotton and tobacco, which depleted the soil of its nutrients. When the influx of peanuts flooded the market and lowered prices, Carver went to work, discovering 300 uses for peanuts. The George Washington Carver National Monument in Diamond celebrates Carver's accomplishments. The park includes the site of the cabin where Carver was born, his adoptive parents' house, the Carver Nature Trail and the Carver Science Discovery Center. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/gwca.

? Laura Ingalls was born in Wisconsin in 1867. Her family moved west from homestead to homestead. She married her husband, Almanzo Wilder, in 1885. In 1894, the Wilders settled on Rocky Ridge Farm near Mansfield, where she wrote her "Little House" series, an account of pioneer life. Visitors can see the farmhouse where Wilder wrote this series, as well as a museum that displays more than a century's worth of pioneering artifacts. For more information, visit www.lauraingallswilderhome.com.

? After eight years in the White House, Harry Truman and his wife, Bess, moved back to Independence, where they first lived together after they were married in 1919. To help understand them and their roles in the community, more than 120 interviews have been conducted with family members, Secret Service men, newspaper reporters and others who knew the Trumans. The Harry S. Truman National Historic Site features a visitors' center, the Truman home and the Truman family farm in Grandview. For more information, visit www.nps.gov/hstr.

Reach Caroline Dohack at (573) 815-1727 or cedohack@ tribmail.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.